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Oni Press and Mike Hawthorne get ‘Hysteria’-cal this February

Mike Hawthorne is on a roll. THREE DAYS IN EUROPE, his romantic comedy with writer Antony Johnston, is due to hit stores in the next few weeks. His work on Beckett Comics’ RUULE: GANGLORDS OF CHINATOWN is currently flying off shelves. And his first issue of Greg Rucka’s QUEEN & COUNTRY has met with rave reviews. Well, Hawthorne isn’t satisfied with stopping there! This February he’s breaking out in his own one man anthology, HYSTERIA, VOLUME 1.

“It’s been such a pleasure to watch Mike over the last couple years,” said editor James Lucas Jones. “He’s grown so much both in popularity and in his skills as a storyteller-it’s just been a joy. He’s been working hard for years and it’s extremely gratifying for me to see him attain new levels of success.”

Forget New York. Push Rio De Janeiro out of your head. Cross Amsterdam off the map. Port Asteria is officially the craziest place on Earth. Malicious madmen, courageous cops, and charming chupa cabras-they all call this peculiar place home and they all spring from the gregarious grey matter of manic Mike Hawthorne!

“HYSTERIA is my baby,” Hawthorne added. “Well, after my real babies, of course. This town, these characters have been bouncing around the industry for as long as I have. I’m absolutely thrilled that their getting a profile boost along with me.”

But as the old saying goes, it takes an entire village to raise a child, so Hawthorne has a virtual township of comic creators helping him usher in his baby. Industry giants Mike Oeming, J. Bone, Steve Rolston, Jon Morris, Rick Remender, Mike Norton, and Scott Morse are all on hand for the delivery! These guys aren’t doing simple pin-ups either! Each drawing spotlights a different inhabitant of Port Asteria along with a little write-up from Hawthorne explaining who the character is and what they’re doing in his comic!

“While HYSTERIA isn’t a one story it is one vision,” Jones offered. “Mike’s ability to seamlessly weave action, humor, and touching character moments through a variety of stories and situations is impressive. It’s a complete package, even if it’s not a single narrative.”

“My fans have always been incredibly supportive of this book,” Hawthorne concluded. “I’m unbelievably jazzed to be giving those fans more of what they want and with any luck picking up a few new ones in the process…”

HYSTERIA, VOLUME 1 is a 104 page black-and-white graphic novel for $9.95. The digest-sized volume features a new color cover by Hawthorne and contains mature situations. It ships to comic book stores on February 18, 2004.